PDF Reading Assessments

[Pages:12]Reading Assessments

In this chapter, you will learn about reading difficulties and disabilities, such as dyslexia, and how reading is assessed. You will learn about reading skills, tests that are used to measure reading skills, and answers to frequently asked questions about reading tests.

Reading is the gateway skill to learning. In third grade, the focus of your child's education changes from learning to read to reading to learn. Your child will use reading skills to learn history, science, geography, literature, math, and other subjects in the curriculum.

? Assessing Reading Difficulties and Disabilities

? Reading Skills

? Tests That Measure Reading

? Answers to Questions About Reading Tests

? Assessing Reading: Special Factors

All About Tests and Assessments

If your child has not learned to read by the end of third grade, he will be in trouble. He will not be able to learn independently from books. He will not understand what the teachers write on the board. He will not be able to write reports and essays. He will fall further behind his classmates. If he is like most children with reading problems, he will not catch up unless he receives a welldesigned, research-based intervention.

There are many reasons why children do not read fluently by third grade. If you suspect that your child has reading difficulties or a reading disability, get an evaluation now. Do not delay. A reading assessment is the first step in identifying your child's problems and developing solutions so he can improve his reading.

Children Who Are Poor Readers in 3rd Grade Do Not Catch Up

"75% of children who were poor readers in the 3rd grade remained poor readers in the 9th grade and could not read well when they became adults."

? Joseph Torgeson in Catch Them Before They Fall

pdfs/americaneducator/ springsummer1998/torgesen.pdf

Assessing Reading Difficulties and Disabilities

A comprehensive reading assessment should measure your child's decoding and receptive language skills.

The decoding part of the evaluation should include tests of:

? Alphabet

? Word identification (word recognition)

? Word attack (phonics)

? Spelling

? Fluency (rate and accuracy)

? Passage comprehension

The receptive language portion should include tests that measure listening comprehension and vocabulary. Listening comprehension tests measure how well your child understands language. These tests can alert you to receptive language problems that affect reading comprehension.

Weaknesses in phonological processing skills are the leading cause of reading disabilities. A comprehensive reading assessment should include tests that measure:

? Phonological/phonemic awareness

? Phonological memory

? Rapid naming

If your child has a history of speech and language problems or you suspect that he has

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a language problem, a comprehensive reading assessment should include a speech and language assessment.1

4. Listening capacity or potential level: The child understands material that is read to him.

Your child's hearing and vision should be checked. It is important to rule out problems with visual acuity. Most reading difficulties are not caused by vision problems and cannot be corrected by vision-related therapies.

The school wants to do an informal reading assessment on my child. What is an informal reading assessment? An informal reading assessment may be a teacher-made test or an informal reading inventory (IRI). It can also be the end of the unit test from the reading program that is used with all the students.

Teacher-made tests are based on the curriculum and prepared by teachers. Teachers use scores to measure their students' progress.

Informal reading inventories include graded word lists, graded passages, and comprehension questions for the passages. Informal reading inventories usually classify four levels of reading skill:

1. Independent level: The child reads without assistance.

2. Instructional level: The child finds the material challenging, not too hard or too easy.

3. Frustration level: The child is frustrated when trying to understand what he reads.

An informal reading inventory may not be used to determine if a child is eligible for special education or in other high-stakes education decisions.

The school wants to do a screening test of my child's reading. What is a screening test? A screening test is a brief assessment that is intended to identify children who are at risk for educational or learning problems. Screening tests are limited and may not identify a child's problems that need to be evaluated. Screening tests should never be used in place of a comprehensive evaluation.2

Who can evaluate my child's reading skills? Reading specialists, learning disability specialists, special educators, speech and language pathologists, clinical psychologists, and school psychologists evaluate reading skills.

Can you test a child for dyslexia? Yes. Dyslexia is a specific learning disability that affects language.

A child with dyslexia will have difficulty reading accurately and fluently. Spelling will be poor. Most children with dyslexia have weaknesses in phonological processing. 3 Many also have weaknesses in rapid naming.

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All About Tests and Assessments

Most standardized, norm-referenced tests that are used to test for learning disabilities are also used to evaluate children for dyslexia.

Did You Know? Dyslexia is listed as a specific

learning disability in IDEA.

Dyslexia is listed as a specific learning disability in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and implementing regulations. See the definition of "specific learning disability" in the federal law and special education regulations.4

Reading Skills

No test measures all reading skills. Different tests measure different skills. Reading skills include:

Letters (LTRS): Child identifies letters names and sounds, or points to letters in response to letter names or sounds.

Phonological Awareness (PA): Phonemic awareness is an umbrella term that refers to the awareness of individual sounds in words. It includes skills at the word, syllable, and individual sound level. This skill serves as the foundation for learning to read.

In tests of phonological awareness the child rhymes words, segments sounds in words, blends sounds, and identifies

sounds. The ability to perceive and manipulate individual sounds is most important.

Rapid Automatic Naming (RAN): Child names colors, objects, letters, or numbers in series. Letter naming is the most important skill for reading.

Letter &Word Identification (L/W ID): Child recognizes regular and irregular words in a list. Younger children and poor readers recognize letters.

Word Attack (WA): Child recognizes nonsense words. Nonsense words are made-up words that assess skill with phonics.

Reading Vocabulary (RV): Child provides antonyms, synonyms, or complete analogies in response to written words.

Reading Comprehension (RC): Child answers open-ended or multiple-choice questions, points to pictures, or fills in missing words. Different methods for assessing comprehension may result in different scores, depending on the child's profile.

Fluency and Automaticity (FL/AU): Child reads passages aloud while being timed. Tests of automaticity and accuracy require the child to read real words and/or nonsense words while being timed.

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Chapter 6. Reading Assessments

Listening Comprehension (LC): Child answers questions based on passages that are read to him. LC can provide important information about comprehension difficulties.

Tests That Measure Reading

Your child's reading should be assessed by tests that measure specific skills. Achievement tests can assess multiple subjects or a single subject. Frequently used multiple-subject achievement tests used to assess reading skills include:

? Kaufman Test of Educational Achievement, Second Edition (KTEA-II)

? Wechsler Individual Achievement Test, Third Edition (WIAT-III)

? Woodcock-Johnson III Tests of Achievement (WJ III ACH)

The Kaufman Test of Educational Achievement, Second Edition (KTEAII) provides valuable information about phonological awareness, oral fluency, and reading fluency. The oral language subtests are not a substitute for a speech and language evaluation. Check Table 6-1 for the reading skills measured by the KTEA-II.

The KTEA-II is under revision. You will find additional information and updates at .

The Wechsler Individual Achievement Test, Third Edition (WIAT-III) measures the reading skills checked in Table 6-1. The WIAT-III oral language subtest results should be interpreted with caution. They are not a substitute for a comprehensive evaluation of receptive and expressive language skills.

The WIAT-III has an unusual way of scoring the reading comprehension test for children who read significantly below grade level. If your child is a poor reader but his score on the WIAT-III reading comprehension test is high, ask the evaluator whether he was dropped back to below grade-level passages. Sometimes children earn high scores because they are not actually reading grade-level text. The WIAT-III may be scored by computer or by hand.

Many evaluators use the WIAT-III together with the Wechsler tests of intelligence so they can compare ability and achievement. See Chapter 4 for information about the Wechsler and other tests of intelligence. Additional information about the Wechsler tests is available at e

In addition to composite and subtest scores, the KTEA-II provides an error analysis that is useful in planning direct, explicit systematic instruction. Composite scores should be viewed with caution when there are large differences between subtest scores. You should always be provided with subtest scores.

The Woodcock-Johnson III Tests of Achievement (WJ III ACH) include a standard battery and an extended battery. See Table 6-1 for the skills measured by these batteries. The WJ III includes other supplemental subtests.

The WJ III is scored by computer and cannot be scored by hand. Because scoring tables are

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All About Tests and Assessments

not provided, it is difficult for an evaluator to verify the accuracy of scores obtained. If you have questions about the accuracy of your child's scores, ask the evaluator to double check the raw scores on the protocol and as typed into the scoring program.

The WJ III subtests are organized into clusters. If there are significant differences between your child's subtest scores, you should view the cluster scores with caution. Because the subtests are short, they may not provide sufficient information about what your child knows and is ready to learn.

The WJ III written expression subtests should always be supplemented by writing tests that require longer writing samples. The Passage Comprehension subtest should be supplemented by reading tests that use longer passages.

The WJ III is under revision. Updates and more information is available at .

Single-subject reading tests often provide more information about your child's strengths and weaknesses. Commonly used single-subject reading tests include:

? Comprehensive Test of Phonological Processing, Second Edition (CTOPP2)

? Test of Word Reading Efficiency, Second Edition (TOWRE-2)

? Gray Oral Reading Tests, Fifth Edition (GORT-5)

? Test of Silent Word Reading Fluency (TOSWRF)

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Tests That Measure Phonological Processing

The Comprehensive Test of Phonological Processing, Second Edition (CTOPP2) is the gold standard for phonological processing. The CTOPP2 measures the skills that make reading and spelling possible. Assessing these skills makes it possible to understand why a child has difficulty reading and how to design his instruction.

The CTOPP2 measures three areas of phonological processing:

Phonological memory is where speech sounds are held before they are processed. It is important for learning decoding, spelling, and vocabulary.

Phonological awareness refers to the awareness of speech sounds. It is the prerequisite skill for learning phonics. A child who has a weakness in phonological awareness is often described as having dyslexia.

Rapid naming is the ability to name objects, colors, letters, and numbers aloud quickly while being timed. This is important for reading with fluency.

Tests That Measure Reading Fluency and Comprehension

Fluency (rate and accuracy) is essential for reading comprehension. Children who read slowly take longer to complete assignments and they remember less.

The Test of Word Reading Efficiency, Second Edition (TOWRE-2) measures the child's ability to recognize real and nonsense

Chapter 6. Reading Assessments

words in a list format with accuracy and automaticity. The TOWRE-2 can help differentiate between different types of reading deficits and can be used to measure progress.

The Test of Silent Word Reading Fluency (TOSWRF) measures reading fluency. The child reads words printed without spaces and makes slash marks between the words while being timed. The TOSWRF is not designed to measure reading comprehension. This test is not appropriate for a child who has difficulty controlling his pencil.

The Gray Oral Reading Tests, Fifth Edition (GORT-5), measure reading fluency and comprehension. The child answers questions based on passages that he reads aloud. The GORT-5 measures oral reading rate, accuracy, fluency, and comprehension. It also provides an Oral Reading Index, a combined measure of fluency and comprehension.

As you review the skills measured by reading tests in Table 6-1, you will see that no reading test measures all reading skills. To understand what your child's test scores mean, you need to know what skills the test measured. A test that measures many skills may not be better than a test that measures fewer skills well.

Answers to Questions About Reading Tests

My first-grader's scores on the reading subtests of the WoodcockJohnson III Tests of Achievement were below average. I am concerned but his

teacher says he will read when he is ready. Do reading test scores improve when a child matures? You are right to be concerned. If your son's reading subtest scores are below average in first grade, he has a problem. Reading problems are not caused by immaturity and cannot be outgrown. The notion that children who are late bloomers in reading will catch up when they get older is a myth.5

You need to get a comprehensive reading assessment. Tests that measure your child's phonological processing, phonics skills, and spelling will clarify why your child is having difficulty and what skills need to be addressed.

On the Woodcock-Johnson III, my child scored much higher on the Letter & Word Identification subtest than on the Word Attack subtest. What do these scores mean? Good question! The difference in these subtest scores is important. The Letter & Word Identification subtest measures your child's ability to read regular and irregular words. The Word Attack subtest measures her ability to apply the rules of phonics to unfamiliar words (nonsense words).

The differences in her subtest scores may mean that she learned to read by sight and did not learn the rules of phonics. She does not know how to break large words into syllables to sound them out.

She is likely to have trouble when she reaches third or fourth grade. Because she does not

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All About Tests and Assessments

Table 6-1. Reading Tests and the Skills They Measure

Test

LTRS PA

RAN

L/W ID

WA

RV

RC

Comprehensive Test of Phonological Processing, Second Edition (CTOPP2)**

FL/ AU

LC

Gray Diagnostic Reading Tests, Second Edition (GDRT-2)

Age 8 & above

Gray Oral Reading Tests, Fifth Edition (GORT-5)

Kaufman Test of Educational Achievement, Second Edition (KTEA-II)

MP &

OE

Lindamood Auditory

Conceptualization Test, Third

Edition (LAC-3)

Phonological Awareness Test, Second Edition (PAT2)

Test of Phonological Awareness, Second Edition:Plus (TOPA-2+)

Test of Reading Comprehension, Fourth Edition (TORC-4)

MC

Test of Silent Contextual

Reading Fluency, Second

Edition (TOSCRF-2)

Test of Silent Word Reading

Fluency, Second Edition

(TOSWRF-2)

Test of Word Reading

Efficiency, Second Edition

(TOWRE2)

Wechsler Individual Achievement Test, Third Edition (WIAT-III)

OE

Woodcock-Johnson III Tests of Achievement (WJ III ACH)

FB

Woodcock Reading Mastery Test, Third Edition (WRMT-3)**

FB

Word Identification and Spelling Test (WIST)

Key: Letters (LTRS), Phonological Awareness (PA), Rapid Automatic Naming (RAN), Letter Word ID (L/W ID), Word Attack (WA), Reading Vocabulary (RV), Reading Comprehension (RC), Fluency and Automaticity (FL/AU), Listening Comprehension (LC). Formats: OE = Open Ended. FB=Fill in blank MC= Multiple Choice ** May give elevated scores

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